


Because Each Day Could Be The Last One

by DemiLune13



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Concentration Camps, Cruelty, Fear, Forbidden Love, Homophobia, Jewish Character, M/M, Nazis, On the Run, Protective Liam, Protective Zayn, Protectiveness, Sad Liam, Scared Liam, Soldiers, World War II, Zayn Saves the Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-11
Updated: 2017-12-11
Packaged: 2019-02-13 12:41:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12984291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DemiLune13/pseuds/DemiLune13
Summary: World War II. Liam gets caught, but the colonel knows there is someone else in the house. And he is determined to worm out of Liam where is the person he protects.





	Because Each Day Could Be The Last One

**Author's Note:**

> Heyyy how are you guys ? :)  
> Just wrote this Ziam story, it's short, but I hope you'll like it!!  
> English isn't my native language, so you spot any mistakes in the text, feel free to tell me !  
> ENJOY!

 

It was too late. There was no time left for Liam.

 

He glanced one last time at the cupboard, wondering if he had made the right decision.

 

Liam's heart vaulted into his throat when the door of the small country house was smashed open. The only thing he could do now was get down on his knees, put his hands behind his head and pray for his life.

 

Two soldiers wearing dark uniforms burst in, in a dust cloud, their rifles aiming Liam. A third soldier walked into the house, and a chill of disgust bolted down Liam's body. Colonel Cowell. His black uniform contrasted with his salt-and-pepper hair. His sharp eyes locked with Liam's chocolate ones. A grim smile distorted Cowell's dark features.

 

“Search him,”, he demanded.

 

One of the soldiers complied as the other was taking aim at Liam. One wrong move and the young man would be shot. Liam gritted his teeth and let the soldier frisk him, staring disdainfully at the red armband with the swastika that Cowell was wearing.

 

“He's unarmed, Colonel.”

 

“Is he ?”

 

Cowell smirked at Liam. “You probably weren't expecting the owners of this house to denounce you, were you ? Don't you know that allies always turn their back on you in this war ?”

 

Liam didn't answer, but his body was trembling with rage. Cowell let out a snort of amusement at that. He had been tracking this freak of nature for such a long time. He couldn't wait to see him suffer, to hear his sobs continuously until his last breath.

 

He was seething with impatience only thinking about it.

 

He slowly stepped forward, his heavy leather boots making the wood floor creak. He towered over his prisoner, his hands behind his back.

 

“Where is the other ?” He asked sternly.

 

Once again, Liam stayed silent, staring defiantly at the man who was facing him. Cowell clenched his fists. This kid was getting on his nerves, like the last time he had slipped through his fingers.

 

He straightened up and motioned to one of his soldiers. He stepped aside, and his subaltern lifted the butt of his rifle before violently driving it into Liam's jaw. A shooting pain split Liam's head, and Cowell's lips streched into a smile. He was enjoying the situation.

 

“Tie his hands behind his back, we don't want him to fight back.”

 

Cowell's voice rang over the blood rushing in Liam's ears. Liam grimaced as the coppery taste of blood filled his mouth. He tried to struggle, but stopped himself when the soldier aimed his rifle at his head. They roughly twisted his arms behind his back, tying his wrists together, and they forced him to kneel again. A dread of fear and anger was burning right in the pit of his stomach, like smoldering black embers.

 

“I know he's with you. I know you can't be separated from each other. Maybe if I would burn this house, Mr Malik would come out of his hiding faster ?” Cowell sneered.

 

This time, Liam answered spitting all the blood he had in his mouth in Cowell's face. The message was clear. His insult was costly. He was pummeled with various kicks and punches, before Cowell finally calmed down, leaving Liam curled up on the floor, writhing in pain.

 

Once again, he was grabbed and forced to kneel. They were not done with him. Cowell wanted Liam to reveal his friend's hiding place, and he would achieve his ends. At all costs.

 

“Very well. We're going to play another game. I want to find the bastard you call your lover, and you will help me, like this little item,” Cowell said as he fished out a stethoscope from the lapel of his jacket.

 

Liam frowned. What did that mean ? It didn't look good to him.

 

Cowell barked out a laugh; short and dry, without any humor. He kneeled down behind Liam, pressed himself against his back and reached out over the young man's shoulder. He slipped his hand into Liam's shirt and put the connector of his stethoscope on the boy's chest who shivered at the cold contact with his skin.

 

During a minute, Cowell attentively listened to Liam's heartbeat and memorised its rhythm. Liam stayed still, racking his brains to figure out the plans of the Nazi SS.

 

“You can start to search, soldier. I will help you when Liam's heart cooperates.”

 

Liam followed the soldier with his eyes, remaining as emotionless as possible, not letting his weaknesses out.

 

The wooden country house was quite narrow and was only made up of three rooms the doors of which were wide open : the bedroom, the kitchen and the living room. The soldier was slowly walking. Only the sound of his footsteps broke the heavy silence. The air in the room was loaded and suffocating.

 

Strangely enough, the soldier was just waiting for any signs from his superior, without researching further. Until he walked closer to the kitchen wall.

 

Cowell let out a vile laugh against Liam's ear and pointed his gloved finger towards the kitchen. The soldier strode across the room to the kitchen, and Liam's pulse raced. That's when he understood.

 

“You're getting closer to the target, soldier. Keep walking in this direction,” Cowell said onctuously.

 

Cold terror slowly settled in Liam's bones as he realized that Cowell was still pointing at the right direction. He started wiggling, frightened of what his own heart could reveal again. Sweat was dripping down his temples, and his frame was trembling with fear.

 

There were a lot of furniture in the kitchen, and it was only delaying the inevitable. The soldier scraped the cupboards with the extremity of his rifle. The sound was unbearable. Then he reached the third cupboard.

 

“Stop !” Cowell suddenly exclaimed, before whispering eerily : “You're very close.”

 

Everything began moving in slow motion.

 

Liam's heart was pounding so hard it could explode at any moment. He felt a wave of nausea crash over him when Cowell said those next words : “He's here.”

 

The soldier took aim at the cupboard. And Liam lost it, as a wave of panic hit him.

 

“No ! Stop it, don't hurt him ! Please don't touch him !” He begged hysterically, struggling against Cowell's grip, twisting his arms in a vain attempt to escape his bonds.

 

Cowell got up and landed a sharp kick to Liam's back. Liam collapsed on the ground, face down. Something inside Liam ran cold at the guilty and the regrets. He couldn't do anything, he was powerless. His own heart had betrayed him.

 

Zayn was going to die because of him.

 

Cowell kneeled down next to him and roughly grabbed his jaw, forcing him to watch the nightmare that was going to happen in the kitchen. Cowell smirked and leant close to Liam, his breath brushing Liam's ear. “I want you to see your pretty dark-haired lover die, Liam. I want to see the pain in your eyes when you see his blood stain the floor aroung his body.”

 

“No,” Liam choked as burning tears stung in his eyes.

 

Liam's horrified gaze was fixed on the cupboard aimed by the soldier. Hundreds of memories about the love of his life flashed before his mind : his eyes, his smile, his voice, his hands, his bravery, his kindness, their meeting, their first kiss.

 

All these memories were smashed to pieces, like the wooden cupboard.

 

Each bullet tore Liam's heart apart. He couldn't believe it. He had lost him. He was now alone against the whole world. The paralyzing realization hit him like a tank, wracking his whole reality. His world shattered around him, burning up in ashes, going up in smoke. An agonized cry catches in his throat, blocking his breath, when he saw a blood-red liquid leaking from under the door of the destroyed cupboard. He let out a strangled sob. His tears were burning trails down his cheeks. Cowell laughed as he saw Liam's devastated face.

 

“Don't worry, Liam. You'll join him very soon. Open the cupboard, soldier, to let our prisoner see Mr Malik one last time. I want him to be haunted by this image until his last seconds in the concentration camp.”

 

He was still firmly holding Liam's face towards the cupboard, so that he would not miss a thing of the macabre scene. Liam felt like he wasn't really there, like he was watching through someone else's eyes, like it wasn't his heart that was beating out of control, like it wasn't his lungs that were refusing to accept air. His eyes were dull. Blank. He felt empty, all of a sudden.

 

How was he supposed to live now, without _him_ ?

 

Silent tears were still streaming down his face. He wasn't struggling anymore. The soldier opened the cupboard riddled with bullets. There was a gunshot, blood splurted on the closer furniture, and the soldier collapsed on the floor.

 

Liam's eyes widened as he distinguished the familiar raven-haired head in the darkness of the cupboard, which turned out to be bigger and deeper than the floor of the house. Zayn just had to crouch down to dodge the bullets.

 

Taken aback by this twist in the situation, the second soldier and the coloned reacted too late to defend themselves, and Zayn shot them right in the head. Liam felt Cowell's body falling limp against him before crashing on the ground with a thump. Liam held back a retch as he saw the pool of blood slowly expanding around Cowell's body.

 

Once the danger warded off, Zayn ran out of his hiding place to Liam. He engulfed Liam into a bruising hug and sliced the rope tying his arms. Liam didn't hesitate for a second and sank into Zayn's embrace, wrapping his arms around Zayn's neck and stuffing his face into the crook of his neck. He was shaking like a leaf and crying like there was no tomorrow. He had just lived his worst fear : lose the love of his life.

 

“I thought they'd killed you...I-I thought you were gone,” Liam sobbed heavily.

 

He tried to stop, but the hot tears kept coming and coming. He choked and gasped and tried to swallow.

 

“They won't get us today, Liam,” Zayn whispered as he clutched Liam close and carded his fingers through his hair.

 

Liam was grateful that Zayn didn't pull away immediately, rubbing his back slowly, comfortingly, as if he knew that Liam needed it. Until Liam remembered something important. He pulled away and cupped Zayn's face, checking him over.

 

“But I saw blood, did they touch you ? Are you hurt ?” He asked frantically, eyes worried.

 

“I found bottles of wine in the cellar. I opened one and poured it on the floor so that they open that damn cupboard.”

 

Liam heaved a sigh of relief.

 

“I could defend myself thanks to you. If you hadn't given me your gun before they arrived, and if you hadn't helped me to hide, we would probably be both dead.”

 

They exchanges a long look, both realizing that this day could have been the last of their life. Liam winced when Zayn touched his bruised jaw with tentative fingers, then his bloody lip. The touch was gentle and Liam felt himself wanting to lean closer to it. Zayn's jaw clenched tightly and his amber eyes darkened. Thoses fuckers beat Liam up pretty badly.

 

He helped Liam to get up, anouncing they had to leave as quickly as possible. Outside, the vibrant orange sun was slowly descending on the horizon, sending its last, most glorious rays to the world. A fresh breeze was picking up. They were better off finding another place to sleep. Zayn was about to close the door behind them when Liam called him. “Zayn ?”

 

Zayn turned around, and Liam pressed forward and captured his lips in a breathtaking kiss. Zayn responded in an instant, pressing back against Liam almost desperately, fingers moving up to lock tightly around Liam's neck and bring him impossibly closer. Liam sighed, the contact setting him of something inside of him, heat exploding somewhere in his chest and bolting throughout his body, travelling through his veins and making him feel like he's on _fire_.

 

They both savoured this moment of love.

 

Because in their case, each day could be the last one.

**Author's Note:**

> Soooo...how is it ?  
> Pleeaase, don't hesitate to write me a review and share me your thoughts xx


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